The NSW coast and a longing for daylight savings

There were no big adventures, unless you count a hotel horror story as an adventure.

On Thursday night we flew to Sydney. I had been trying to find us some last minute accommodation. Lesson 1: not booking accommodation until the last minute is a bad idea. At least in Sydney, unless you are willing to spend $300 per night.

Because I had to be in Bondi Junction on the Friday I looked for a cheap(ish) hotel room just for a bed to sleep in, somewhere between the Sydney Airport and Bondi Beach. The only place that had a twin room under $150 was the Bondi Gateway in Bondi Junction at $105 per night. Having a shared bathroom would not normally bother us.

This place was a DUMP to say the least! It would not have been worth any more than $30 per night… Though $30 per night is probably still too much for a death trap. Fire safety anyone?

The sheets were dirty and the carpet was filthy. That was just the bedroom… Imagine what the shared areas such as kitchen and bathroom were like. It is safe to say I did not go to the toilet during our stay, and waited until our breakfast location.

I thought we may have been booked into a kidney farm, but luckily we woke up without any scars.

Lets not mention the noise due to the location. We should have slept in the car instead.

Lesson 2: NEVER STAY AT THE BONDI GATEWAY!

We got over that lesson when we arrived in North Wollongong on Friday afternoon. Here is the view we had from our deluxe room at the Novotel:

If you have never been to Wollongong it is definitely a place worth visiting. The only downside in this place is the temperature of the water being so cold. For us anyway. It did not seem to bother all the other people swimming and surfing. The temptation to hire a wetsuit and a board was high.

Here is a sneak peak of what Wollongong looks like:

And our morning visitor:

Lesson 3: whoever owns the skydiving company in Wollongong is rich!! We have never seen so many skydivers in one day.

A couple of tips for those visiting the North beach. A great place for afternoon drinks is Diggies, near the surf club. We enjoyed our $16 bucket of coronas with the view:

Those windows open up when it’s warm enough.

If you are after a nice dinner, you can go to the Pavillion just South of Diggies. This is a restaurant with a great atmosphere and they make 1 meter long pizzas!!!!!! We settled for the 50cm pizza and it was delicious:

For those looking for a breakfast location with good variety, you can try the kiosk, which is right next to Diggies. It is right on the beach, so you might have to wait for a table to become available and pounce on it.

When we were having breakfast in Bondi Beach, Sydney we met a cool, young, family from Belgium. A couple with two young boys who had gone though Thailand and then came to Australia. They had driven in a campervan from Cairns to Sydney and were about to fly to New Zealand to so the same.

Lesson 4: if you intend to travel around Australia for an extended period of time, having a campervan is probably the cheapest option. This also takes into account the distances between each place.

I met a Swiss lady on Saturday night who could not believe how far it is to get from one place to another.

It is way too beautiful a place to let the distances stop you.

One more thing… We really enjoyed having the longer days. Here in Queensland we don’t have daylight savings. Down south they are an hour ahead, which means they have more opportunity to enjoy the day. I vote Queensland should have daylight savings. We are so backwards here. Don’t worry, the curtains won’t fade!